Identification for rubber goods



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M. HART I IDENTIFICATION FOR RUBBER GOODS Filed Oct. 15, 192

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This invention relates generally to articles made of rubber, and particularly to means for identifying such articles.

The main object of this invention is to provide an exceedingly simple and efficientform of identifying articles made of sheet rubber such as hot water bags, etc., for the purpose of preventing theft as well as the accidental or intentional removing of the article from one ward to another, which is obviously undesirable. 'lhe second object is to provide a visual means of identification whereby an article made of sheet rubber may be indelibly marked as soon as it is assigned to a particular ward or division in a hospital, and in addition thereto will provide a ready means for recording the actual date on which this article went into service. I The third object is to provide an identification mark which cannot easily be altered or transformed for the purpose of destroying this identification without endangering the article itself. llhese, and other objects, will become more apparent from the specification following as illustrated in the accompanying drawings,

which: Figure 1 is a front elevation of a section of a hospital pad showing the identifying mark thereon. Figure 2 is a similar view showing a slightly modified form of applying the contrasting colors. Figure 3 is a sectional View talren along the line 3-3 in Figure 2. Figure is a fragmentary view of a modified form of the seal.

@imilar numbers of reference refer to simi-.

lar parts throu bout the views.

llteferring in etail to the drawings, there is illustrated a portion of a hospital pad,

another rubber oods, which may be of any a large number of wards require a-correspondingly large number of identifications to break the patch 11 itself up into two colors 12 and 13 contrasting as much as possible with each other and with the color of the article 10.

While in Figure 1 the contrasting areas 12 and 13 each occupy one half of the circular patch ll, it will be seen that in Figure 2 the body of the patch 11 consists of one color 1 1-, and superimposed thereon is a second color 15. all llnstead of superimposing the second color 15 upon the first color 14:, it may sometimes be desirable to merely form an opening corre-. sponding with the area 15, which of course would expose the same color as the article 10. Uf course this idea could be carried out further, such as by varying the shapes of the related areas, or varying the number of smaller areas superimposed upon a larger area. to

In Figure 4 there is shown a colored patch 17 which is vulcanized to, or otherwise secured to, the article 18. lln the patch are formed the stenciled numbers 19 and letters 20 through which, of course, will show the color of the an article 18, which is obviously in contrast with the patch 17. By variously combining the numbers 19 and letters 20 still further detailed information may be recorded on the article.

llt will also be understood that the particular numbers and letters or other characters stenciled into the patch 17 can be varied at will without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Owin to the fact that the condition and value 0 rubber goods .is very definitely related to the age of these goods, it is always desirable for responsible parties to be able to state positively how long these goods have tit been in service.

This method of identification includes a means for providing this information by embossing a number or character 16 somewhere on the surface of the patch. This number may be of still a difierent color, although not necessarily so, and may either be an actual date or a code number which will permit extreme abbreviation.

It can be seen that by this arrangement W9 an authorized party in a hospital provided with a vulcanizer'and operating instructions can apply the colored patch to the article as it is issued to a particular. ward. In some been identified by means of painted insignia,

instances it is desirable to give the articles in a given ward a serial number or other identification mark usable only within the ward itself.

If, for example, an article marked as above describeddisappears from a ward the attendant in that ward can be made fesponsible therefor, and if that attendant attempts to replace it with a similar article from another ward, this unauthorized replacement is easily detectable. Moreover, by this system even an unintentional misuse of an article can be avoided. a

Naturally, the color or colors of the patch or of any portion thereof, are arbitrary. That is, they have a particular meaning assigned to them by the user of the system.

I am aware that rubber goods have often which identifying marks are easily removable, but with this system the mark. is inlaid or vulcanized to the object itself which would necessitate almost a destructionof that particular area of the object to successfully remove same; it is therefore not my intention to cover such systems broadly, but I do intend to cover all such forms and modifications thereof as fall fairly within the ap pended claims.

I claim: i 9

1. The combination with a surface of a flexible rubber article, ofa rubber iden-.

tification patch colored incontrast with the color of the article and united with the latter by vulcanization, said patch having a perforation in the form of an identification character through which said surface of the article is displayed.

2. The combination with a flexible rubber article, of a rubber identification patch having an area bearing an arbitrary color contrasting with the color of the matter surrounding said area, said patch being united to a surface of the' article by vulcanization, and havin a perforation in the form of an identi cation character through which said surface of the article is displayed.

MARJORIE HART. 

